Accounting and filing device



Jan. 4, 1949. WESTON 2,457,855

ACCOUNTING AND FILING DEVI N Filed Oct. 1, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1WIIAIIIII may!!! INVENTOR. 62-05597" 112-870 BY n ml 19M A TTORNEYS Jan.4, 1949. w s o 2,457,855

ACCOUNTING AND FILING DEVICE Filed Oct. 1, 1942 FIG-.6. 1 PM .lum llINVENTOR. fifssws/rr fi-era/v BYMKQWJL ATTORNEYS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Jan. 4, 2949 Herbert Weston, New York, N. Y.; vested in theAttorney General of the United States Application October 1, 1942,Serial No. 460,463

This invention relates generally to card indexes or card registers ofthe kind in which the index cards or sheets have certain structuralcharacteristics adapted to cooperate with portions of a holder for thecards to permit the positioning of the cards in'relative offset relationwhereby portions of all such cards will bevisible. More particularly,the invention relates to holders for the cards whereby the cardsandholders may be readily arranged and handled. Accounting and filingsystems of this general character are disclosed and claimed in UnitedStates Patents Nos.

1,713,945 granted May 21, 1929, and 1,975,566

grantedOcto'ber 2, 1934.

In the aforementioned patents, it has been proposed to employ slottedcards cooperating with supporting or positioning ribs and the likewhereby the cards may be offset horizontally with re-' spect to oneanother and in its simplest form, this arrangement involved slotting thecards along the lower edges thereof for horizontal offsetting. Suchcards have been contained within cabinets or drawers having inclined andadjustable back rests to support banks of the cards, individual banksbeing separatedby adjustable or readily movable partitions or dividers.

One object of the present invention is an improvement in the partitionsor dividers in the interest of a simplification of manufactureiandstrengthand durability in use. I

Another object of the invention is the utilization of the dividerconstruction as a support for a plurality of cards which permits thecards to be arranged in any desired manner thereon While any one suchsupport or holder for one group of cards may be readily moved; with thecards still in position on the holder, from one position relative toother card holder to another, as circumstances require.

It is also an object of the invention to provide the divider or cardholder with means for supporting and positioning-a plurality of cardsarranged in echelon on the aforesaid card holder and divider combined sothat one of these combined card holders and dividers may be removed froma cabinet and carried to a place where an inspection is to'be made ornotations to be inscribed upon particular cards.

Yet another object of the invention is to providea combined divider andcard holder of the character described having means to retain the cardsagainst displacement accidentally.

A further object of the inventionis the provision of means to retain theupper edges of the cards to prevent their displacement or fallin 4Claims, (Cl. 129-16) 2 away from the card support during movementthereof while at the same time not obscuring the indicia on the cards.

It is also an object of the invention to provide cards for arrangementin echelon in the mannerdescribed which are particularly suitable forthe combined divider and card holder of this invention whereby anincreased capacity of cards is afforded. In carrying this aspect of theinvention into eiTect, a plurality of the cards may be arranged onebehind the other in register While the several such groups may bearranged in echelon, the respective cards affording visual illustrationof the absence of any card from its proper position. v

The invention also seeks to facilitate the reading of the identifyingdata on the respective cards. In carrying this aspect of the inventioninto effect, magnifying devices are utilized which not only serve toretain the upper edges of the cards in position but make more legiblethe identifying characteristics applied to the upper portion of thecards.

It is also an object of the invention to permit the ready removal, say;of a rearmost card on the combined divider and card holder withoutdisarrangementof the remaining cards.

Still another object of the invention is to arrange cards in groups andto arrange the groups in echelon while at the same time affording visualindication of any card missing in the group,

The invention also seeks to provide for an in-' creased number of cardsin a given space in a cabinet while at the same time afiording a clearindication of any card missing from the group- Again an object of theinvention is to equip cards formed with tabs along their lower edgesdefining slots to be received on longitudinal parallel positioningmembers with provision for the prevention of the mutilation of theend-most bottom corners of the cards.

These and other objects Of the invention and the means for theirattainment will be more apparent from the following detaileddescription,

taken in" connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating variousembodiments by which the invention may be realized and in which:

Figure 1 is a view, in" front elevation, showing the improved divider orholder of this invention adapted to hold a plurality of cards for readyreading and comparison;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary, transverse, section- 2-2 of Figure 1 lookingin the direction of the 3 arrows and showing means retaining the upperedges of the cards in position on the card holder and, at the same time,magnifying the indicia appearing on the upper portion of the card;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken in the planeindicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1 and showing the lower edges ofoverlapping cards and illustrating one means of positioning the cards attheir lower ends;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, transverse, sectional view taken in the planeindicated by the line 44 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the.arrows and showing improved means of securing a panel to the end membersof a divider or card 55 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of thearrows and at right angles to Figure 4, showing details of construction;

Figures 6 and 7 are views in front elevation showing cards provided withnotches .intheir lower edges defining feet on which the cards rest on asupport or bottom and having particular provision to prevent mutilationof the tabs defining the end-most slot at. each side edge of the cards:

Figure 8 is a view showing a plurality of groups of cards in which cardsof a group. are arranged in register with one another, the groups ofcards being arranged in echelon and provision being made for indicatingthe absence of a card from the group;

Figure 9 is a view of a card whichmay be the rearmost card of a group ofcards arranged in register with another card as illustrated in Figure 8;and

Figure 10 is a fragmentary view showing a card provided with means forindicating the absence of a rearmost card.

Referring first to Figure 1, the structure there shown is applicable toa readily movable partition or divider such as shown in United StatesPatent No. 1,975,566. The holder is illustrated as comprising a panell2, Figurel, having an end rail I3 at each end to which the panel may befixed by insertion of the ends thereof in grooves. i4, Figure 4, in theend rails IS. The end members l3 may be channel-shaped in cross-sectionto define the grooves and extend downwardly, conveniently, although notnecessarily, a sufficient distance below the panel l2 so that the panelitself is raised slightly above the bottom of a cabinet or drawer inwhich the divider-like. card support is disposed, such bottom or drawerfrequently containing parallel positioning members, as at b in theaforesaid patent, over which the tabs on the bottom of the cardsstraddle whereby the cards stand on the bottom of the cabinet and thecards are supported. above the positioning members. It will be apparentthata plurality of such divider-like holders l2, l3 may be disposed inparallel relationship and closely positioned with respect to oneanother-in a cabinet, for instance, such as shown in United StatesPatent No. 1,713,945.

The. end rails l3 are conveniently formed of plastic or othercomposition although they may be formed of metal. However, it. has beenfound that the metal rails, striking against a metal. cabinet orcontainer, create unnecessary noise which non-metallic end. railsovercome.

A transparent strip 18 above the top of the. end rail or panel isillustrated as supported. in' a reversely bent holder 20 which iscounter-sunk in the front face of the panel, as at 22, and isconveniently secured therein as by an adhesive.

This transparent strip l8 and the panel 12 are conveniently secured inchannels or grooves [4 in the end rails by a plurality of staples 23which are countersunk, as shown in Figure 5, in the one wall of theU-shaped or longitudinally grooved end rail, and the ends of the staplespass through the panel and enter the wall of the end rail on theopposite. side. of the groove, as shown in Figure 4. The transparentstrip of plastic l8 in. the metal pocket lies in front of the tophorizontal margins of cards arranged on a similar supporting paneltherebehind, thus permitting clear vision of signalling and indexingfeatures of as. many record cards at a glance as are disposed. behindthe respective panels.

The lower edge of the panel is rabbeted, as at 24, and provided with asupporting base member or pocket consisting of a rear wall 26 ofconsiderable height, a bottom wall 28 and a front wall 30 relativelylow. Pins 32 pass through the. front wall 30 and are seated in the rearwall 26. The pins 32 are provided with collars or bushings- 3.4 of asizeto be received within the notches 36 formed along the lower edges of thecards 38 thereby providing tabs 39 positioning. the cards asillustrated. The positioning pins 32 and the 00- acting slots or notches36. are so relatively positioned that the selected cards are offsetlaterally from one another whereby indicia along edge. portions of thecards may be visible when the cards are arranged in echelon.

While the upper ends of the cards 38 may be retained by any suitableretaining member, there is shown a retaining member or laterallyelongated clip in Figures 1 and 2 comprising a flat rear wall 40, and aforwardly and downwardly extending front wall 42. In the illustratedembodiment, the forwardly and downwardly extending portion is thickened,as at 44, and is made of a transparent plastic preferably having some ofthe. surface contours and characteristics of a lens whereby theindiciaalong the upper edges of the cards are made not only visible butare magnified for ready reading. Below the lens portion 44, the frontportion of this upper retaining member is bent rearwardly,,as at 46, andthen forwardly, as at 48, so that the reversely bent portion 46, 48 willengage the cards 38 and hold them in position. The member 4046 as. awhole. serves as. a spring clip to embrace fit down over the cardsupport l2 with its upwardly projecting transparent. strip l8,.and. thecards 38 to releasably retain the cards against displacement. andprevent their upper edges from falling forwardly when a card supportwith its attached cards 38 is moved. If desired, the retaining memberfor the upper edges of the cards may be releasably secured to the panelas illustrated, for instance, in my copencling application Serial No.437,752, filed April 6, 1942 now abandoned.

In Figure 8, a bank of cards isillustrated which. is suitable forsupport on the panel just described although having other andwideruses.v The cards. are formed with notches 3.6 at predetermined intervalsalong, their lower edges. definingv tabs or feet therebetween on whichthe cards. restupon the. bottom.28, say, of the holder. The cards areretained. in, echelon by position-ing members. such. as those.illustrated at 32-, 34 but. the notches defined by the feet or tabs areof greater depth than the, height of the positioning members above thebottoni-28so thatv the cards rest on the bottom. or base plate.

Rough handling sometimes bends or breaks the respective end-most tabs onthe bottom or lower edges of the cards and in order to avoid suchmutilation which would obviously render diflicult the insertion of thecards in the desired positions on the bottom of the cabinet, cards havebeen devised, as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, wherein the bottomcorners are cut away either on a slant as at 48a, as illustrated inFigure 6, or on a curve as illustrated at 50 in Figure 7. Thus the edgesof the cards projecting outwardly from the tabs 39 protect the tabsagainst mutilation.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide the cards for arrangement inechelon with indicia such as marks or spots along such areas of theirside or upper edges which are normally covered by the overlapping cardsbut which, if such overlapping card is missing, disclose indiciaindicating immediately the absence of such a card. However, there aresituations Where for one customer, for instance, or one particular job aplurality of cards is required which could conveniently be arranged inregister one behind the other except for the fact that no visualindication or signal would be given if a card were missing. To obviatethis diificulty, some of the cards of this invention, as illustrated inFigure 9, are provided with a colored spot 52 while a correspondingcard, at the same corresponding point, is provided with an aperture 54,here illustrated as a round hole. When a card with a colored spot is inplace behind a card with a hole, the color is visible through the hole,as at 56 (Figure 3), and indicates that the card belonging therebehindis in its place. On the other hand, if no color is visible through thehole, it is obvious that the card therebehind is missing. Similarly, ifa card belonging in front of the colored spot is missing, instead of around spot of color the large square spot of color 52 is displayed andthis indicates immediately to the observer that the front card ismissing. Obviously apertures of different shapes may be provided. Forinstance, a card intermediate the card with the round hole and the cardwith the colored area may be provided with a diamond shaped aperture.Therefore, if a diamond shaped colored spot is visible through a roundhole, it is obvious that all three cards are in position whereas if around spot is visible, it is obvious that the card with the diamondshaped aperture is missing.

It will thus be seen that an improved divider or separator for cards isprovided which is ruggedly made in an expeditious manner so that it willnot warp out of shape, is sturdy in construction and simple ofmanufacture and is capable of application as a card holder by the simpleaddition of a lens-like top card edge holding device and a bottomsupport. Furthermore, means are provided which enable the cards to bereadily accounted for even where cards are arranged in register onebehind the other and the cards may be so constructed as to avoidmutilation in insertion and removal. Such a holder for cards is readilycarried about and moved from place to place in a cabinet or from acabinet to a desk and back to the cabinet again, materially reducing thetime to change the cards, individually, and the holders may beconveniently held against displacement and moved from place to place inthe cabinet.

Various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art in thecomposition, configuration and disposition of the component elementsgoing to make up the invention as a whole as well as in the applicationof the divider as a card holder by the addition of supplemental parts aswell as in the selection of signalling apertures, and no limitation isintended by the phraseology of the foregoing description orillustrations in the accompanying drawings except as indicated in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a card register, a holder adapted to support cards in echeloncomprising a panel, end members to support the panel, a supportingmember for cards secured to the panel longitudinally along the lowerportion thereof, pins disposed along the supporting member to positionthe cards, bushings on the pins, and a retaining member engaging theupper edge of the cards and panel and comprising a magnifyingchannelshaped clasp.

2. In a card register, a holder adapted to support cards in echeloncomprising a panel, end members to support the panel, a supportingmember for cards secured to the panel longitudinally along the loweredge portion thereof, means to position the cards, and a retainingmember engaging the upper edge of the cards comprising magnifying means.

3. In a card register, a holder adapted to support cards comprising apanel, means carried by the panel to support and position the cards inechelon and a retaining member engaging the upper edge of the cards andthe panel and comprising a magnifying substantially channel shapedclasp.

4. In a card register, a holder adapted to support cards comprising apanel, means carried by the panel to support and position the cards inechelon and a retaining member engaging the upper edge of the cards andthe panel and comprising a channel shaped clasp whereof at least thatportion overlying the cards is magnifying.

HERBERT WESTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,419,394 McKee June 13, 19221,447,141 MacDonald Feb. 27, 1923 1,469,798 Martin Oct. 9, 19231,764,580 Raviglione June 17, 1930 1,975,566 Bosse Oct. 2, 19341,998,991 Heller Apr. 23, 1935 2,192,178 Bosse Mar. 5, 1940 2,248,355Jones July 8, 1941 2,261,861 Smith Nov. 4, 1941 2,297,442 Volk Sept. 29,1942 2,330,953 Copeland Oct. 5, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date609,398 Germany 1935 613,912 Germany 1935 627,248 Germany 1936 630,837Germany 1936 635,182 Germany 1936 647,413 Germany 1937 662,500 Germany1938

